Thinking of the VT victims

This morning, my thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those involved in the shootings.

Jamie Bishop, the German instructor who was killed, went to my high school. He was a couple of years older than me. At the time, I was close friends with his sister who is my age. Admittedly, I never knew him well. In fact, I probably had only a handful of conversations with him. I know, however, that he was a ridiculously smart kid who had grown into a pretty interesting guy.

I'm trying to process all of my emotions about this. Like most everyone, I'm shocked by it, disheartened by it, saddened by it. With this tangential connection to it, I'm drawn to the story, more empathetic to the victims, hungrier to know why this happened.

I am so sorry for his family and his friends.

At this point, I'm waiting for more information to come in from friends with contacts back home. If you'd like more info, leave a comment on this message (with your email address) and I'll pass it along as I learn more.

Go to the AJC article about Jamie, here.

A Few Thoughts on Major Media Coverage
Thankfully, I missed most of the story as it was unfolding yesterday. As horrific as it is, I really hate the media's coverage in times of such crisis.

Flipping by CNN last night, I was treated to Dr. Phil preaching about the dangers of allowing potential psychopaths to play hyper-violent video games. I'm thrilled that he used that time to so wisely instead of offering any sort of advice on how to emotionally comfort the survivors and the family and friends of the victims. This confirmed my suspicions that Dr. Phil is a self-serving, talentless ass.

Later, I watched as the reporter on "Anderson Cooper 360," who, in fact, was not Anderson Cooper, clumsily revisit the story, attempting to entrap a student into claiming that the university president was negligent in not closing campus, and literally saying that "this is a story with a human toll." Then, he fumbled his tag line, "Live from Virginia Tech...Massacre at Virginia Tech."

Honestly, I find that an on-site reporter narrating such an event in such a manner is highly insulting. People are smart enough to realize that such an event is horrific, that it has snuffed out promising lives for no reason, that families and friends will never fully understand why their loved one was killed, and that the experience was truly, utterly terrifying for those involved.

I await the day when the media shows respect for the situation, for those involved, and for those who want to be informed by the news, not entertained by it.